PREVIEW
Having met in each of the last two seasons in the MLS Cup Playoffs, the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City once again renew acquaintances on Sunday evening at BBVA Compass Stadium. The Dynamo return home off a two- game winning road swing, without shutouts in both, after a midweek 4-0 win at D.C. United. Sporting hit the road following a second loss in a three-game homestand, a late 1-0 defeat by Seattle Sounders FC. The Dynamo have knocked higher-seeded Sporting out of the postseason in each of the last two seasons.

The teams met in the MLS Cup Playoffs for a second consecutive season last year, the Dynamo winning their semifinal series 2-1 on aggregate. In 2011, the Dynamo won 2-0 in the Eastern Conference Championship at Sporting Park.

A year ago, both league meetings at Sporting Park ended in draws, while the Dynamo won the first-ever meetings at BBVA Compass Stadium.

Kansas City’s only win in Houston came in the first meeting ever between the clubs, a 2-1 win April 8, 2006 at Robertson Stadium. In the all-time league series, the road team has not won since 2009, when the Dynamo took a victory at CommunityAmerica Ballpark.

The Houston Dynamo completed their two-game road trip with a second victory, rolling to a 4-0 triumph against D.C. United on Wednesday evening at RFK Stadium. The Dynamo are in a tie for first place in the Eastern Conference with 20 points from 10 matches.

LAST MATCH

The Dynamo opened the scoring in the 16th minute. Will Bruin settled a ball from Boniek Garcia, beat United defender Dejan Jakovic and then chipped it neatly over United goalkeeper Bill Hamid from the heart of the penalty area.

Twelve minutes later Houston struck again, taking advantage of a United giveaway. Pressured in their own end, Jakovic passed the ball to Hamid in a tight space and United’s goalkeeper cleared it directly to Bruin, who tapped it to a wide-open Giles Barnes for an uncontested finish.

Bruin scored his second of the match in the 78th minute when Brian Ching headed a Brad Davis free kick across the six for Bruin to hit first-time through Hamid’s legs.

The visitors completed the rout two minutes from time when Bruin played provider for a second time on the night, laying the ball off for Andrew Driver to thump home from inside the box.

Dynamo head coach Dominic Kinnear made two changes to the team that claimed a 1-0 victory against the LA Galaxy at The Home Depot Center. Brad Davis came back from suspension into the midfield in place of Ricardo Clark.

The Dynamo have now gone 225 minutes without conceding a goal, sneaking into the 10th-longest run without allowing a goal this year in MLS. The league best thus far is 546 minutes, by Sporting KC from March 9-April 20.

“We’re working hard to get where we are right now. We have a tough game on Sunday against [Sporting] Kansas City,” said Dynamo boss Dominic Kinnear. “There’s still 24 games left in the season, there’s still a long ways to go, [but] we’ve put ourselves in a good position. We’ve worked hard to get there and you have to work harder to stay.”

Will Bruin hit for multiple goals for the fourth time in his young MLS career, in 66 league appearances. But it was the first time he recorded two assists in the same game.

“I think I’ve matured so much since that hat trick game my first year,” Bruin said. “As a forward you want to be greedy, but you have to know when to be greedy and when to lay it off. Other times I would’ve tried to be greedy and score those myself. If there’s an open net I’ll lay it off every time.”

Bruin also became the first player to be involved in two or more goals and two or more assists in the same game since Jeff Cunningham did it for FC Dallas against the LA Galaxy on Sept. 12, 2009.

“I think the bear might have come out of hibernation tonight. Every forward needs, wants a game like this, to be totally honest. Two goals and two assists, that’s a pretty decent game. I think anybody would be happy with that, so [I’m] happy for him,”said Brad Davis. “Guy works hard week in and week out. When you do that, goals are going to end up coming – he got two great ones to come and there are many more to come.”

Of Bruin’s 21 career league goals, eight have come against D.C. United, including his first career hat trick scored April 29, 2011 at BBVA Compass Stadium.

“I scored my first goals against D.C. in my professional career. I guess [it’s] just a confidence thing. I should be playing like that against every team, but it is what it is,” Bruin said. Said defender Bobby Boswell: “I think he’s just hungry. He wants to improve,” said. “We call him angry sometimes because he really does get angry out there and wants to impose his games on other guys. He’s a guy that I don’t think you want to play against.”

With Davis back in the lineup after missing the Galaxy match through suspension, Ricardo Clark missed his first league game of the season, not included in the 18-man gameday roster.

“[Clark has] a little bit of a groin problem, so [we] didn’t want to risk it, so that’s the reason why he didn’t dress today. All of these guys have had two games in the space of four days with a lot of travel. They put in a great effort. Obviously, confidence makes injuries don’t seem so bad as they are and hopefully that’s the case when we play on Sunday.”

Andrew Driver and Boniek Garcia maintained their wide midfield roles, meaning Davis slotted into the center of the park along with Adam Moffat.

“It’s not my normal position playing in the center midfield, so [I’m] just trying to get in there to do my best to try and connect with guys and disrupt things and work hard in whatever aspect that might be to help the team win,” said Davis. “Like I said, we did a great job. Everyone did their roles properly and we got some great goals.”